Running
by FemaleSpock
Summary: Rocket runs away from things; D'jok runs towards them. Main pairing: Rocket/D'jok. Other pairings mentioned: past Tia/Rocket, Tia/Micro-ice, Aarch/Artegor.
1. Chapter 1

Running

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Galactik Football and I make no money from this fanfiction. **

He slipped into Rocket's room unannounced, they never make an arrangement, and they never plan these illicit meetings- they definitely aren't marked out in red on any calendar or diary page. They don't talk about it either.

It didn't look like anything was happening at all and D'jok was all about appearances.

Rocket doesn't have to force D'jok to do anything, he comes un-summoned and completely irregularly. Sometimes he doesn't come for weeks at a time; sometimes he's there almost every night.

What D'jok couldn't work out was why Rocket always seemed to be expecting him, why the midfielder never seemed surprised when D'jok turned up in his room at the Academy, or at a hotel, or (in an even riskier move) at the house that he lived in with his parents.

"You're a little late," Rocket often said, raising an eyebrow, sardonically. Sometimes he'd even look down at an imaginary watch on his wrist, shaking his head at D'jok's nonexistent tardiness; one of the many things he had learnt from being King of the Sphere was that sometimes it was worth putting on a good show.

It's not an affair (they are both, technically, single), but it feels like one. Tia's moved on, she was dating Micro-ice of all people, but that's different. It had been Rocket's fault that they had broken up, he'd put her through so much, he'd pushed her away and to the limit. He knew that he deserved to be happy; he wasn't sure that he could say the same thing about himself.

After it became clear that D'jok wasn't going to get Mei back, he'd sworn of girls altogether- not that Rocket was a girl (the idea that he might have wanted to date a boy had never crossed his mind before- he dreamed great destinies up for himself but his vision was surprisingly limited), but what he had meant to say was he was done with relationships.

He liked to think that nothing that Rocket (or anyone) could do to him could ever hurt him the way Mei hurt him.

The first few times they didn't talk afterwards. Wouldn't talk. Couldn't talk.

That wasn't the case now; they tended to talk strategy, putting their heads together to solve any problems the team might be having, arguing about what they thought was best- it was just like any ordinary meeting but for the setting.

They try to keep it strictly business, shop talk, so to speak.

It doesn't always end up that way and in the aftermath of such physical intimacy, D'jok sometimes ends up blurting out things about himself that Rocket really didn't want to know- like the fact that he worries about his adoptive-mother being all alone or the fact of still not being used to having a father after all the years of living without one.

The flare of recognition is so hateful that sometimes Rocket just leaves in the middle of the night, when D'jok is sound asleep and dreaming of all his future successes.

(D'jok always slept well; after all he wasn't guilty of anything too serious beyond having an overinflated sense of self and acting like a jerk because of it. Rocket could hardly say the same- he'd left a wake of carnage behind him when he'd finally come back from the Sphere.)

D'jok was never that surprised to find himself alone in Rocket's bed. Rocket was the boy who ran away, after all, the boy who stumbled into bad situations in his desperation to flee whatever situation was just too difficult to deal with.

D'jok never ran away, he ran towards things, he chased the promise of everything glittering prize- the result was often the same anyway.

He often looked back on how it had all begun- he'd come in anger, ranting about some 'suggestion' that Rocket had made to him in practice, incensed by how Rocket was lording his Captainship over him, by Rocket's smug, self-satisfied attitude.

"It's my job to give you feedback, D'jok," Rocket had said, in a flat, bored tone, as if he'd heard it all before (which of course he had, many times).

"I…you…" D'jok had spluttered, unable to verbalise coherently in the face of such rank arrogance. The frustration had boiled in his blood until it became impossible to suppress any longer.

On impulse and pure instinct, he'd propelled himself forcefully into Rocket's personal space and savaged pushed his lips against Rocket's.

He had certainly not planned it, nor ever thought about it before; perhaps he had intended to go for a punch, but his brain lagging a few steps behind his body had decided to go for a kiss instead.

Most other boys would have pushed D'jok away, would have thought about it first, but Rocket responded without missing a beat, almost like he had been expecting it. Truth was, neither had cared enough to stop it from happening, sex was just stress relief at this point, nothing that implied a deeper emotional connection.

D'jok had been a mess after though; regret had hit him almost as soon as he had woken up again, what had just happened and why? He'd walked out of there in a daze of confusion and spent the next few days in a similar state. Rocket acting completely normally just made it all the worse.

He'd found himself drawn back to Rocket, though, somehow- he'd gone round to ask for answers but found himself unable to speak, instead he just set himself up for even more nagging questions by making yet another move.

Once was an accident but for it to happen twice was too strange for it to be purely a coincidence.

By the third time a pattern had been established. He learned not to question it, just to accept things the way they were- he was good at that. He'd learnt to go with the flux, not resisting (at least not beyond a token effort) the strange magnetism that kept bringing him back to Rocket.

Rocket in turn, had stopped baiting D'jok so much, restrained himself from making criticisms he knew would fall on deaf ears- not out of any sentiment, but to avoid the trap of falling into one of _those _relationships. He'd seen it with Aarch and his perpetual friendship/feud with Artegor- love-hate relationships never ended well…or ended at all for that matter. (Sometimes he wished he didn't quite so much about his Uncle's personal life). In fact, not only did he not want that sort of relationship, he didn't want a relationship at all and certainly not with D'jok.

You only had to ask anyone; D'jok and Rocket weren't compatible in the slightest, not even as friends.

(He still found himself arguing with D'jok, despite his efforts not to, that boy just rubbed him the wrong way and his self-control wasn't what it used to be.)

Tia also doesn't knock, that night she walked into Rocket's room, needing a shoulder to cry on (they've managed to stay friends, best friends in fact, despite everything) and instead finding herself confronted with the sight of her ex-boyfriend and her teammate engaged in carnal relations.

She stopped for a moment and just stared, before quickly dashing out, waiting outside the door for Rocket to come out and speak to her (as she knew that he would).

She tapped her fingers softly against her leg as she waited for him, trying to think of what it was she should say, fighting the urge to laugh at how ridiculous this situation seemed to her.

Rocket skulked out a few minutes, messily dressed and looking none too happy.

"I'm sorry," she said, determined not to allow any awkward silence to creep between them. "I should have knocked."

"Why didn't you?" Rocket asked, just to keep the conversation going.

"You did say I could come by at any time and I guess, over the years, I've become used to just walking into your room without needing an invitation."

She paused for a minute, before a thought occurred to her. "Not that I'm excusing myself for barging in, but why didn't you lock your door?"

Rocket considered it for a while; truth was he'd grown arrogant, over-confident in his abilities to keep things a secret- he hadn't thought that he'd needed to lock the door.

"Doesn't matter, what did you want to talk to me about? It must have been pretty important for you to rush in here."

Tia raised an eyebrow. "If you think you can pull a subject change on me like that, Rocket, then you have severely under-estimated me."

"It was worth giving it a go," Rocket mumbled.

"So, how long has this thing with D'jok been going on?" Tia asked, definitely sounding more curious than angry. "And why didn't you tell me about it?"

"A few months," Rocket eventually admitted. "And I didn't want to hurt you."

Tia gave Rocket a very funny look. "We're not dating anymore; I would have been happy for you, you know that. Please, don't use me as an excuse."

She was far too clear-sighted, she knew him all too well, that was the problem.

"I'm not dating him," Rocket insisted, obstinately. "It's just an arrangement."

See, this was the problem with people knowing- it made the whole thing far too real.

"I see," Tia replied, although she sounded sceptical. "Well, I won't tell anyone, if you're worried."

"Thanks," Rocket said, nodding awkwardly.

"Well, I'll leave you to it," Tia's voice was mischievous. Rocket exhaled loudly as he watched her walk away.

He marched back into his room.

"Get out," he said for the first time since this had begun.

Had it not been dark, Rocket might have seen a brief flash of hurt cross over D'jok's face, nevertheless, D'jok hastily exited.

Rocket didn't show up to practice the next morning. Nor was he in his room. He didn't show up to practice in the afternoon either.

After practice, D'jok drew Tia off into a corner to speak to her privately. "You don't suppose he's run away again?"

Tia noted the not-quite concealed anxiety in D'jok's voice and facial expression.

"He didn't say anything to me about it, but…it's likely," Tia admitted, not getting too worried- he always came back, he'd probably just gone back to his cave or something. She doubted he'd get back into a mess like Netherball just over this.

"Aren't you going to go look for him?" D'jok asked, looking not at Tia but at his shoes.

"I think the one going to look for him should be you," Tia replied, gently.

D'jok nodded, looking less then convinced- still he had to, for the good of the team.

Right, he was just going for the good of the team, there was no reason other than that.

Technically, he should have notified Aarch that he was leaving the academy- but he wasn't about to do that. He was going to find Rocket, bring him back and then…

He paused- what was he going to do when he saw Rocket again?

He'd have to break things off- it was surely the only answer. Besides, as he reminded himself, they weren't even really dating in the first place- he shouldn't miss it one bit.

He made his way to Rocket's cave (the weather was actually not that bad by Akillian standards), a painful knot in his stomach the entire time.

He could hear the sound of a football bouncing off the walls before he even saw Rocket.

He didn't announce his presence immediately, just watched Rocket kick the ball violently at the wall- D'jok couldn't help but notice that Rocket's usually surgeon-precise aim was slightly off; it was more like the way that D'jok played- power being favoured over accuracy.

"Sloppy," D'jok couldn't help but comment, as Rocket narrowly missed his next target.

Rocket spun around, his face like thunder. "What are _you _doing here?"

"Coming to get you," D'jok said, his manner instantly slipping into argumentative mode. "You are the Captain of this team Rocket; you can't just go running off whenever you feel like it! Take some responsibility!"

"I would have thought that you would have been pleased, been to Aarch to ask for the Captain's armband yet?" Rocket shot back.

"I'm trying to do the right thing for the team!" D'jok exclaimed, frustrated that his self-restraint wasn't being recognised.

"Of course you were, you're all about doing what's best for others, with no thought for yourself, oh how selfless you are." Rocket's voice was positively oozing with sarcasm.

"Fine! The team will be fine without you anyway!" D'jok shouted, his meagre patience breaking, quickly, giving way to anger. He intended to walk away but instead he found himself glued to the spot, waiting for Rocket's next retort.

"A minute ago you said I needed to come back for the good of the team," Rocket pointed out. "You're contradicting yourself again- does the team need me or don't they? It's one or the other."

D'jok's brow furrowed in confusion- what should he say next? Either answer felt like an own goal- kind of like when teacher's asked "do you behave like this in all your classes?"

He stood there, speechless, as he tried to regain rationality after his outburst.

"Come back," he said, quietly, after what seemed like a lifetime of deliberation.

"Because the team needs me?"

"Yes," D'jok answered curtly, not brave enough to talk speak for himself rather than for the team. Not brave enough to say that he needed the challenge that Rocket provided, that he needed the competition to keep his ego in check, that he needed the tension to make life interesting.

He wasn't brave enough to say that he need Rocket.

Rocket tilted his head to one side in pretend consideration of D'jok's plea, honestly, he'd just needed to get away for while, he'd always intended to come back.

"Okay, I'll come back. But this," he pointed to himself, then D'jok, then back to himself. "This is over."

"Fine, let's just go," D'jok ignored the urge to reach for Rocket's hand as they walked out of the cave back to D'jok's transport.

He wasn't disheartened though; if there was one thing D'jok loved, it was a challenge, a quest to win something.

He'd win Rocket back somehow.

**That's it for now- I might end up writing a second chapter to this though. This was originally meant to be a drabble, but it spiralled out of control and this happened, I just didn't really know where to stop. I'm really loving these two right now, I have something else with them planned as well- as usual, partial credit for inspiration has to go to indecisive-ays for filling the last prompt I gave her so beautifully (it's called 'Replacement', check it out if you haven't already)! Review please!**


	2. Chapter 2

Running: Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Galactik Football and I make no money from this fanfiction.**

Aarch didn't even really ask Rocket where he had got off to- he'd only been gone a day and he hadn't missed everything too crucial. Plus, you just got used to him running away after a while. He didn't ask why either, in fact, he barely said anything about the matter.

It seemed like common sense to him but to D'jok it just seemed like favouritism- he never would have gotten away so lightly. As bitter as he might have felt about that, he had more important things to worry about.

Like what _he _was going to do about Rocket. Rocket had made it very clear that it was over (whatever 'it' was), so he could just go back to Rocket and pretend that nothing had changed.

Strategic thinking never really was his strong point (he'd left that down to Rocket); he knew his usual approach, to affairs of the heart, was blundering at best (and downright insensitive at worst). All he knew was that he was going to have to do something.

Unbidden, the image of himself, using the seduction techniques that Mei had used on him and Micro-ice, entered his mind, making him shudder. That was definitely not the way to go.

Unwilling to do anything at present, he trudged back to his room, hoping to get Rocket out of his mind for now.

'_Perhaps it's better if I don't do anything_,' he thought to himself, it had been madness that had driven him to take up with Rocket, he should be grateful that it was over, surely?

He was lying on his bed, eyes closed, deep in thought until Micro-ice disturbed him.

"So I heard you got Rocket back; nice going!"

D'jok almost jumped out of his skin- it took him a few horrible seconds to realise that Micro-ice was talking about his getting Rocket back to the Snow Kids- he didn't know anything, how could he know anything? Besides, it's not like it would have been true had he been talking about that.

"Yeah," D'jok replied, unenthusiastically. He just couldn't even summon the energy to be boastful, let alone hyper (as Micro-ice seemed to currently be).

"You aren't regretting it are you? I thought you accepted D'jok our Captain?"

"No, no, of course not. I'm just tired."

It wasn't a complete lie.

The next day at practice Rocket completely ignored him. Well, he sent him enough passes that Aarch didn't complain but he didn't say anything to or about him- not even when he messed up. He spoke to all the others- gave them pointers, words of encouragement, critiques of their technique- but for D'jok there was nothing but stony silence.

In anger, D'jok kicked the ball off the field semi-deliberately, hoping to get a rise out of him at the very least.

He got a comment to stay focused from Aarch but not so much of a disapproving look from Rocket. He just turned away.

It was enough to make D'jok even more determined to get something, anything from him.

Normally his pride would have stopped him from playing poorly on purpose, but he was far too invested in winning this game of theirs to care about practice. Being noticed for the wrong reasons was better than being ignored.

D'jok stole the ball from Rocket whilst he was playing, and ran in the opposite direction.

"What's he doing?" Micro-ice asked, in puzzlement.

He ran past the attackers on the holo-Shadows Team and scored an own-goal against a bewildered and completely unprepared Ahito.

"What the hell are you doing?" Rocket burst out, unable to help himself. The other Snow Kids just stared as Rocket came over to give him a whack on the arm. "What kind of stunt do you think you're pulling?"

"What are you going to do about it?"

"Break it up you two! D'jok, I'll see you after!" Aarch's voice came booming over the speakers.

He thought that hitting teammates was a worse offence than playing purposely badly, it was just another example of where Aarch was biased in Rocket's favour. Still, he thought it was worth it, to see that he could still get under Rocket's skin.

"What did you think you were doing out there? What's going on with you?" Aarch demanded, afterwards.

D'jok just sat there silent, putting a blasé face on.

"D'jok, this is unacceptable!" he bellowed.

"I just had a bad match, it wasn't like it was real," he replied, shrugging.

"I'm not stupid, that wasn't an accident, it was deliberate!"

Again, there was not much D'jok could say.

"You settle your scores off the pitch, okay? I don't want to see that kind of playing again. You're dismissed."

D'jok walked out of Aarch's office with his head held high- he knew what he was doing.

It was only then that it occurred to him that he didn't know what he was going to do next- he gotten Rocket's attention, what was he going to do now that. He considered knocking on Rocket's door but that struck him as weird and oddly formal, so he went back to his room again.

Besides, he still didn't know why he cared so much.

'_Because it's a game and I have to win,'_ he reminded himself, as false as it felt, it was a reason that he could cling to.

He had very little time to collect his thoughts before he was disturbed by a knocking on his door.

He groaned, reluctantly getting up in order to open it. He found Tia standing there. Well this didn't bode well.

"Can I come in?" she asked, in a tone that made it fairly clear what the answer should be.

"Sure…"

He was resigned to his fate.

"You know there are other ways to get his attention?" she said, putting it out there without beating around the bush or tip-toeing around the subject.

"What are you talking about?"

She just gave him a look before carrying on as if he'd never given that pitiful objection.

"I kissed him in front of everyone at the party but I wouldn't really advise that approach either," she said, smiling, thinking fondly back to those days.

D'jok pictured the aghast faces, Rocket's angry response, and decided he agreed with Tia- not that he was ever seriously contemplating it to begin with.

"No, I think not," he said, awkwardly.

He restrained himself from asking Tia what he should do- asking Rocket's ex for advice seemed a little weird, even if she was offering help of her own free will.

"Still, you have to be persistent; it takes time to break through that shell of his."

"Thanks Tia," D'jok said, still feeling slightly uncomfortable in this situation.

"You'll come up with something, now if you'll excuse me; I have date with your roommate!"

Well that explained where Micro-ice had scuttled off to so quickly after practice. It was a weird twist of destiny that Micro-ice (who was perpetually unlucky in love) was having a better romantic life than D'jok right now.

Not that there was anything romantic about him and Rocket, he hastened to remind himself.

Still, he couldn't think of anything worse than just sitting in his room on his own, thinking- he needed to do something. Impulsively, he decided that he was going to go to Rocket's room. He wasn't going to knock, he was just going to barge in, just as he used to. There wasn't exactly much Rocket could do about it.

It was, actually a phenomenally bad idea, but D'jok wasn't thinking about that. He saw the goal- he couldn't not take a shot.

He marched in, without consideration for stealth, or anything really.

Rocket looked up from watching the holo-tv, trying to mask his irritation with a look of dull surprise.

"What do you want?"

D'jok just looked at him- waiting for a better response than that.

"You know, that stunt today was really stupid," Rocket said, his lip curling in revulsion.

"We can't all be such expert tacticians as you," D'jok shot back, the fire of the argument felt good, better than being frozen out completely. It was safe ground, familiar ground.

"I think even a child knows that scoring an old goal is a no-no. What exactly were you trying to prove?"

"Maybe that you don't have such control over the team as you should," he gave the cheap answer rather than the real one. "You're not such a great captain as you think you are."

"Why can't you just leave me alone? Are you really that jealous?"

"I'm not jealous of you!" D'jok shouted, although at times he knew he could be. But that wasn't it, that really wasn't it anymore.

"Go, just, leave me alone."

D'jok was far too stubborn to do that, even if he had contemplated leaving before, he certainly wasn't going to now.

"No, I'm not leaving."

"Do you really want to make me get nasty? Because I thought I'd left all that behind," Rocket snarls, the threat coming far too easily for his latter statement to be true. He got up, as if to take some sort of action.

"Maybe I do," D'jok retorted, childishly, getting right up in Rocket's face. A frission of tension passed between them and Rocket quickly went to turn away.

D'jok grabbed him by the jacket and pulled him back to face him; he wasn't going to let him run away this time. He pushed his lips against Rocket's; kissing him roughly.

Rocket gave in for a minute before pulling away again.

"It's not the same anymore," he said, by way of explanation. Was that fear D'jok could see on his face? It wasn't an expression that he was used seeing from Rocket. Confidence- yes, arrogance- yes, irritation- yes. But fear? Most certainly not.

"Why does it have to be the same? Why can't it be different?"

Rocket actually didn't have an answer to that, so he just repeated his earlier question.

"What do you want?" his teeth were gritted, his hands balled in fists.

"You."

He'd gotten this far, he might as well say it and not back down. It was better to fail gloriously than miserably- that he'd learnt from playing galactik football.

Rocket shook his head. "You can't be serious."

"I am, now man up! Or do I have to get Tia to talk some sense into you?"

"I don't need to take this from you!"

"Well, someone needs call you to account! You can't just get away with everything all the time, it's not healthy."

"Just leave me alone."

For all that he wanted to stand his ground, D'jok knew that he'd taken it far enough, so he did as Rocket asked and left. He could rest easy in the knowledge that he'd done all he could. There was always tomorrow.

Still, the uncertainty gnawed like rats in his stomach. He wished that, for once, he knew how Rocket was going to react.

The next day was a weekend, so they had the day, subsequently, D'jok didn't see Rocket- he wasn't hanging around in the group areas, that was for sure.

He could only hope that Rocket was holed up in his room or that he'd gone out for the day, anything but him having run away yet again. He held off going to see him until later on, waiting was making him restless and cranky, but he figured it was for the best.

So he hung out with Micro-ice, Ahito and Thran, hoping that he was acting normal- he even gave a destiny speech, just for the sake of appearing like his usual self.

Later, he knocked on Rocket's door only to receive no answer- he tried to tell himself if didn't mean anything, that there could be a multitude of reasons why he wasn't there.

But still his mind was jumping to the obvious conclusion.

He was beyond surprised, to come back to his room, to find Rocket sitting on his bed.

"You came here."

Rocket nodded, wryly. "Tia might have talked to me."

"So?"

"Things can go back to the way they were," Rocket conceded.

It wasn't much but it was a start.

**Yeah, that's it for this chapter. This might be the end or I might end up adding yet another chapter, I don't really know. Rocket was being extremely uncooperative when I was writing this, so I hope it's okay. Review please!**


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